I'm really appreciating the comments, so thanks again everyone! :) Sorry if this chapter has a few grammar errors, I was kind of in a hurry when I wrote it.

The next afternoon, I sat in the middle of math class, completely zoned out. This was my last day ever at this school. My heart was heavy and my mind was sluggish. Leaving my home was going to be so hard for me. I would have to face a new school, a new home, and I would somehow have to make new friends. I know that doesn't sound like a hard thing to do, but for me, it was.

Shyness had always been a part of my personality. Most of the time, I liked to pretend I was invisible and that I didn't even exist. And usually, most people thought I was invisible. The only people who ever talked to me from this school were Mandy and Joe. I had become friends with Mandy at a pre-algebra course. She needed some help, and so I willingly went over and helped explain the properties of exponential numbers to her. After that, we had been the best of friends. With Joe, I had known him since I was just a little girl, so I had never felt a reason to be why around him.

I tried to memorize every aspect of the classroom as my algebra teacher rapped on and on about quadratic equations that I didn't give a damn about right now. Even though I didn't especially like algebra, I liked the algebra classroom. It was familiar, friendly, and welcoming. I was so involved with my thoughts, that I was taken off guard when Mrs. Johns, the algebra teacher, called out, "Okay, that's it for today class! Remember that your homework is due by Monday!"

An ironic smile formed on my lips as I trudged out of the classroom and out into the hallway that was already packed with students hurrying from one class to another. I would never ever have to turn my algebra homework in again. Just as I turned to go to history, a familiar smiling face came into sight and caught my arm.

"Hey Lisa!" Joe called out, making his steps in sync with mine. "Doesn't it feel like a waste of time for you to be here today? I mean, we only have two days left together. It kills me for us to be spending our last days separated in different classrooms." I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant, "Well, yeah, of course it's a waste of time. It's not like I'm ever going to complete my homework from today anyway. But what can we do about it?"

I answered my own question, "Nothing." But Joe just smiled and said, "We don't have to be here you know. We could just walk out right now." Joe pointed to the entrance of the school. It was wide open and looked very inviting. It would be oh so easy just to walk through the door and out into freedom...

"But Joe," I said dubiously, "We can't just ditch school. Think of all the trouble you'd be in!" Joe just shrugged, "I'd rather go out and spend the afternoon with you. So what do you say? Let's go have some fun!" Joe's persuasion was enough for me. I grabbed his hand and started towing him towards the open doorway, "Oh fine! I suppose I wasn't really paying attention in class anyways. But let's hurry before we get caught!"

Looking like suspicious criminals, Joe and I creeped through the hallway and then quickly snuck out of school and into the bright, sunny day. Vermont was so beautiful in spring. As soon as Joe and I were outside, I twirled around and held my face up to the sunshine. Ditching school had actually been a really good idea!

"So what should we do this afternoon?" Joe asked me as we started down the street together, "We obviously can't go to your house or my house. Then our parents would obviously know that we had ditched. What's your favorite store in town?"

"Uh..." I thought for a moment. I really liked the bookstore that was just down the street. I had always loved books ever since I was a little girl. Books brought me away to a whole new world. While I was reading, I could be a completely different person. And when I was a completely different person, I could forget about all of life's problems. I answered Joe's question, "How about we go to the bookstore just down the street?"

Joe agreed readily, "Okay!" We crossed a few streets before we arrived at the small, brick building that was the bookstore. Joe politely opened the door of it for me as I stepped inside. I grinned over at him as we walked into a room filled with thousands about thousands of books, "This was a really good idea, Joe! This is so much more fun than sitting around and listening to the teachers bitch about shit."

"Yeah, I know," Joe agreed, already picking up a book. "Go pick out something you want. I'll buy you anything you want today." Joe was so nice. I mean seriously, how many boyfriends pull their girlfriends out of school and then offer to buy them books? Not many. Joe was so special...and I was going to miss him so much.

After scanning over several books, I selected a thick romance novel. Joe took the book from my hand as we walked over to the cashier and read the back of the book. When he was done reading, he turned to be and asked, "So is this what you want?" I nodded. The romance novel was about a girl starting at a new high school. I thought that maybe I would be able to relate to her since I was starting a new school in less than a week.

Like the gentleman he was, Joe paid for my book and then took my hand as we exited the bookstore and stepped back out into the sunlight. After glancing at his watch, Joe said, "So what should we do next? We have about an hour before we should head home." I contemplated Joe's question as my eye fell on a little ice cream shop up ahead.

Unable to resist my sweet tooth, I pointed at it excitedly and said, "Let's go get some ice cream!" Joe laughed at my enthusiasm, "If you say so." Once we reached the ice cream shop, we stared at all the different flavors of ice cream we could get. There were so many different possibilities and combination! It was almost impossible to just choose one!

After mulling it over for a while, I finally decided on cookie dough ice cream with chocolate sauce while Joe got vanilla ice cream with caramel and whip cream. I licked my lips when the ice cream was served - it looked so good! Perfect on a warm, sunny day like this.

Joe and I sat down on a bench and licked our ice cream cones. Joe put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against his shoulder. I took a spoonful of ice cream and held it out to Joe, "Want to try this?" Joe shrugged and took the spoon from me, "Sure, why not?" As Joe was trying my ice cream, I surreptitiously stuck my other spoon into Joe's ice cream cone and took a big bite of it. Joe slapped my hand away playfully and laughed as I got whip cream all over my lip.

Joe's eyes twinkled as he said, "You're sneaky, you know that?" I turned and looked right up into his dark, brown eyes. They were so kind, so loving, and so Joe-like. My gaze traveled down to his lips. They looked really tempting. Even more tempting than my ice cream cone if you can believe that!

Before I knew it, we were kissing passionately with our ice cream cones completely forgotten. Joe and I put our arms around each other and held each other close. Neither of us ever wanted to break this embrace. We both knew that this was one of our last days together and neither one of us wanted it to end.

After what seemed like minutes, but was at least an hour, Joe broke our embrace and glanced at his watch once more, "Oh my god, it's four already! We need to get home before my parents start wondering where I am!" Reluctantly, the two of us stood up and headed towards home. I pretty much dragged my feet on the way home. I never wanted this day to end.

~ ~ ~ ~

Once we reached my house, Joe handed me my new book and gave me a quick kiss on my forehead, "I had a really great day with you. Nothing could have made my day any better." Than motioning towards my book, he added, "You might want to put that away so your mom doesn't get suspicious or anything."

I nodded, tucking my book into my school bag, "Oh yeah, good idea. I had a really good time with you too. So I'll see you tomorrow night though, right?" Just the thought of tomorrow night sent shivers going down my spine.

"Yeah, of course!" Joe replied, just as eagerly as me. "Why don't you come by around nine or so? I'm positive my parents will be out by then. And if they're not out...I'll kick them out!" Joe joked.

"Nine sounds good," I replied as I creaked the door to my house open. "I'll see you then!" Joe and I exchanged one last hug, then I stumbled into my familiar kitchen and began the long process of peeling off my boots. Hearing noise from the kitchen, I called, "Hey mom, how are you?"

No voice responded, but the clattering from the kitchen did stop. That was suspicious; my mom always said hello when I got home. Something must be very wrong...

Suddenly, my mom's stern, unsmiling face appeared from the kitchen entrance, "Where were you during school today?"